Thinking Blogger Award?

About two weeks ago, Marie (Marie's Muses) nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award. That was smack in the middle of our Vacation Bible School, and I was not able to respond in the manner I thought appropriate here in my journal. I did email my thank you to her, but now it is time to reciprocate with my own selection of the Thinking Blogger Award.

The following week I was headed out to a wedding on the beach, and then down for a five day trip to Alabama and back. I still want to write about our Montgomery experience, but am battling with the video uploading tool. In the meantime, I wanted to get this done, my Thinking Blogger Award entry.

Thank you, Marie. You know how much I enjoy reading your journal, too, and Lord knows you make me think about being a better person in this world.

I did a little back tracking by following the links, and came to the website where the Thinking Blogger Award started, to find out the focus of this award, and the intent of its creator. Discovered that a lovely lass (screen name ilker yoldas, or is that her real name? I don't know) is responsible for its beginnings back in February of 2007. Tired of memes, she sought "to offer content that is interesting, informative and things that could really help my friends who are reading it."

She explains further to those she chose for the award:

...Please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging.

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

That was that! Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking! It is the first time I am starting something with my blog so I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me."

It is called '5 Blogs That Make Me Think' and I am tagging the following bloggers:

Caregivingly Yours by Patrick (Daddyleer)

New and You by John in the UK (Jonh8m)

On My Mind by Sheria (Aimer)

Photo Trek by Greg (Radar446)

Inner and Outer Demons by Russ (Toonguy)

I chose these for various reasons, and rather than write a lengthy description of each, I hope that you will visit these journals (if you already haven't), and see if you find them to be as thoughtful and reflective as they are interesting and informative as I did. I just want to say that all of them are tops on my list. I could have easily listed another five, but the rules say only five.

So, if you are interested in following up on this, link back to the original Thinking Blogger Award, okay?

Tags: Thinking Blogger Award, Five Blogs That Make Me Think, ilkeryoldas

Alabama Mama

I've been away all week, you may have noticed, and now I have to decide if I want to recount the past week's events, or do I want to read everyone's journals? After I responded to a few emails and journals, I decided it was my turn to make an entry.

A partial entry.

It's been sixteen months since my last visit with my mother (that was last Easter week). She is still living in Alabama, but at least her new apartment is three times the size of the little storage-sized building she had back then. 

I'm glad to report that my mother is happy. She doesn't have to tell me in words, though she did. I can see it written all over her expressive face, in her animated gestures as she talks, in the way she carries herself with direction and intent, and in her voice when she sings a medley of tunes that keeps the listener guessing where they came from! Like one of her co-workers explained to me, when she sings, he plays a mental game of "Name that Tune."  My mom sings medleys throughout the day.

I want to write about my visit with her, but it is late, so I will try to do it this week. We spent the night in Montgomery, AL... I want to write about that too. There's a video I made that I will try to post here... a real treat, a great surprise. Something we had not expected to see or do while in Montgomery.

                              

Mom likes to wear hats... this is one of her favorites. Here she is carrying on with my husband. They get along really well, and I am so thankful for that. I've heard too many horrible MIL stories... mine is not one of them. Neither is his. 

While in Foley, we spent some time at Gulf Shores, we drove to Mobile, and then on to Biloxi, MS... my husband was stationed at Biloxi 30-something years ago, so we drove by the front gate of the base there.

                            

Mom said there used to be a large ship at this site, the Treasure Bay Casino. I remember seeing it on the news the night before Katrina swept it all away. Above is what the place looks like today. Below is how it looked just after Katrina hit.

             

           Photo courtesy of yerffej9 . I found the picture at Flickr.

Mom said she didn't recognize the beach at Biloxi... all of it was gone... from Katrina. Miles of casinos and condos and restaurants are gone. I took pictures, but it was mostly open beaches there... and since I had never been there before, I didn't stare in disbelief like mom did. She'd been there a few times with my dad, years ago. I can only imagine what New Orleans must look like if Biloxi was this devastated. 

                                    

 I didn't want to go home before showing my mother how to use the computer. I took her to the public library and there we created her an account, so now she can send emails to her kids and grand kids, as well as get pictures of all of them. And what good would all those pictures be if she didn't have a flash drive to download the photos we send her? I bought her one so she can print them out at the nearby drugstore. Yep, she's pretty excited about that, too.

The best part about this trip was teaching my mom to use the computer... she is such a quick learner. To demonstrate the searching tool on Google, I asked what she would be interested in learning about. She said "Armadillos."

                             

I asked her what did she want to know about Armadillos. She answered "Well, I want to know why they have suddenly showed up around here ... saw one last week, dead on the road. Why did they come to my neighborhood?"

Turns out that was a very valid question, mom.

So we did a search, and lo and behold, we found our answer.

 Armadillos like the climate of the south, soft soil (for digging for invertebrates), plenty of food sources, they'll eat practically anything, even carrion. After reading that important fact, I offered my thoughts. "You know, you said you found a dead armadillo in the middle of the road... maybe it was looking for carrion. Then it became carrion itself." Yes, I had solved the mystery of the dead armadillo near my mother's home.

"Nah," she replied, "I think it was just trying to get to the other side." My mom, ever the humorist!

 We wondered if perhaps Hurricane Katrina might have displaced the Louisiana armadillos. They don't live west of the Rockies (probably due to the Colorado River impeding their journey... they are lousy swimmers) but would likely move east and south (they don't like the cold... they have no fat to keep them warm). I've seen them in Florida, so why wouldn't they be plentiful in southern Alabama as well,I reasoned. They've probably been there all along, but she just had never seen one til last week.

My question is "Why hasn't my mom seen an armadillo before last week if they are so common in the southeast?"

Because they are nocturnal, and her eyes aren't as sharp in the dark. That's why. There's a lot of little critters lurking around her house at night that she cannot see.

Our search also revealed that only one species of armadillo, the nine-banded armadillo, exists in the U.S. It has a long snout. My mom swears the one she saw had a short snout. So now I'm thinking maybe she saw one of the Cabassous tatouay from South America.

I didn't get a close enough look as we walked by her dead armadillo the day before... wished I had. What if she had found evidence of a Brazilian armadillo, proving that the invasion of the short snouted armadillo from south of the border is upon us?

More likely, someone found a cute short snouted armadillo while on vacation down south, smuggled it back into U.S. somehow. Then, tired of its disturbing night time habits, released it into the woods. And if she were a pregnant armadillo, it wouldn't take long for the population to increase. Just brainstorming here.

Mom is a fun student. I expect she will love using the internet searching tools. And email.

You're just never too old to learn a few new tricks!

My story of Montgomery will have to wait until I can tell you everything I want to tell you. But I leave you with the Capitol building of Alabama:

                                   

                     and the former home of Martin Luther King, Jr. .....:

                                     

Finally, there was a beautiful rainbow on our way home as we drove through Georgia. The lighting wasn't great for the shot, but I color enhanced it to bring it out.

                                   

Tags: armadillos, learning how to search on a computer, Biloxi after Katrina

A wedding on the beach

Several months ago, my niece sent us a card to mark our calendars for her wedding. When I found out that the July 22nd event would take place on the beach, I had my doubts. ON the beach... amidst beachcombers and families laying on their towels and sitting on their folding chairs. Wind blowing, sand everywhere... what does one wear on a breezy beach? What good are shoes? I had big doubts, having never attended a wedding on a beach before.

However, all my fears dispersed the moment my bare feet stepped onto the warm beach sand, my sandals dangling from carefully manicured (artificial) fingernails. On the upside, there was no need to worry about hair styling... after all, the wind was going to blow it all apart. I cast away my middle-aged worries into the ocean breeze, feeling the freedom of a 23 year old who once had the whole world and a lifetime ahead of her (and in some ways, still does!). Weddings have a way of bringing us back to our own youth, the promises we made, and hopes we planted in our hearts. I love weddings!

It was held on Wrightsville Beach, in the early evening. After the sacred vows were spoken, a Sand Ceremony marked the joining of two families. The pastor explained the steps of the marriage ritual: first the parents of the bride, and then the parents of the groom stepped forward, each to pour a portion of colored sand into separate glass vases. One pair poured blue sand in the one vase, and one pair poured white sand in the other.

                                          

Then the bride and groom each took up their respective parents' vase and simultaneously poured the colored sands into a pretty glass central vase. Very much like a lighting of the candles, except better since there was too much wind to enable candle lighting. The significance of blending the colored sands of the two families did not get lost on any of the family members.

                                             

My niece and her husband looked beautiful in the setting sun. So happy were they to have all their plans realized. I was happy for them... we all were. I would have taken many more pictures, but the professional photographers told us to turn our cameras off, then stole our bride and groom to a short distance away closer to the swaying sea oats. They monopolized every second of the setting sun for their photos.

I sneaked a few anyway, then took photos of the rest of us who were not immediate family and not part of the family photo session. Finally, we decided to leave and head for the reception, which would take about 20 minutes to drive to. 

The wedding was one I will never forget... I wish Bridget and David a long and happy marriage, and may all their dreams come true.

                   

We are family....! This is my SIL, MIL, me and my BIL... my DH took this one. I seldom get to visit with the family, so it was especially nice to talk with them, catch up on family events. SIL will be a grandmother in a few months, her first! Notice my bare feet. It was nice not having to worry about what shoes to wear!

                            

We stayed at a lovely old hotel called The Wilmingtonian, located in historic downtown Wilmington (NC), just a block off the waterfront. A bargain for the location and the room size, with all the amenities. The Wilmingtonian is a complex of several buildings. We stayed in the Maritime House, the Fort Fisher Suite (only $85 a night). I hadn't expected theplace to be as nice as it was... all I knew was that we had reservations close to the reception, in the historic district. I love surprises!

                             

Below, I am standing on our balcony, overlooking a garden style courtyard.

                                     

 

The biggest surprise was the koi pond... you all know how much we miss our yard koi pond. I had no idea this place had a koi pond when we booked the reservations three months ago.   

                                                                       

So glad we stayed there. We could easily have stayed another night or two had we not already made plans to drive on to other U.S. shores. 

 

 I will write about them next. When we get back.

 

Tags: The Wilmingtonian, historic downtown Wilmington, wedding,

Animal Cruelty... A response

I just don't know where to begin.

First, I read Ravens Lament, Indigo's raging entry (rightfully so). She was writing in response to the federal indictment against Atlanta Falcons football player Michael Vick, who sponsored/ran a dog-fight operation on his property.

I am an animal-lover... I couldn't believe some of the things she said about this young football player/sports hero... not because she is a passionate advocate for animals/children/women, but because how could anyone do such a thing? Especially someone who is already living what many would consider a privileged life, a celebrity, and ultimately, a sports hero for children. I left her journal shocked that the sport is still thriving somewhere, and angry that someone young, healthy, intelligent,and athletic as this Michael Vick, who could do so much more with his life, has chosen to get his jollies from killing dogs.

Then, I read Russ's entry at Inner and Outer Demons... again, the anger and rage of someone who loves animals, someone who is caring for an aging animal... and he has written a response to the same horrid story. I do not follow sports news, but I had to check this story out, so I did a search. It didn't take long to find out what the indictment against this young man was all about. There is enough evidence to put his butt (and those of his associates) in prison.

I saw a video at YouTube, and thought at first to put it here, but it was too upsetting. Not anyone I know here would want to view it. But if you have never heard of dogfighting and cock-fighting, or don't understand the depth of cruelty that enrages us, here is the link to one short video (made by the Humane Society) that explains (graphically, but with compassion and factual information) the savageness of the sport. It's called Put An End to Animal Fighting: The final round.

Or watch the Pet Minute for a briefer version. There is a link to the video in the far right column on that page, where it says Watch the Video.

How could he (or anyone) do such a thing? What was he thinking? How does one grow up from a little boy, who probably had a pet or two, to become a talented athlete, who went to college, and became a highly paid football player for a popular team down south... how does one turn around, in the dark of the night, to do such evil to the most innocent of animals? How????

What kind of person enjoys watching animals fight to the death? I'm talking about penned animals... animals chained to their "dog houses"... animals bred, trained, and forced to fight. It's nothing like animals in the wild, where predator meets prey. That's a different kind of survival. I still have a hard time watching a lion bring down an antelope on a National Geographic video, even though I know that the lion has to eat. I feel sorry for the antelope. But dogs fighting dogs to the death... no it's not the same thing.

I look at my dogs' adoring faces... not just adorable... but adoring. They look at me like they adore me. I don't know if they really adore, but it looks like adoration to me. Their eyes follow my every move. They read my body language. They know when I am finished eating at the table before I even get up. They sense sadness, they sense joy... they express the same. They feel pain, and they have strong loyalty to us, their family. I can't imagine such a thing for them, or their distant cousins, the Pit Bulls, or for any breed of dog.

Where does this kind of thinking come from? Not just in regards to this one individual who has not even reached the maturity of a 30-year old man, but to all the people involved in this crime... especially the ones who run the operations? If no one ran dog-fights, there'd be no one to participate in them: no one to breed dogs to fight, no one to train the dogs to fight,no one to sponsor dog fights on their property, no one to place bets on them in the first place. At all levels, it has to be eradicated... at all levels, it is evil.

I'm guessing not anyone who reads this has anything to do with dogfighting. But it's possible that any one of us could someday hear of some suspicious activity. If so, you can help by contacting your local SPCA, Humane Society, and even the police. Here is a link to the Humane Society of the United States.

The good news is that on May 3rd of this year, President Bush signed the bill, H.R. 137, into law, which provides felony-level penalties for animal fighting activities. Which means if this guy Vick, and his co-horts are convicted, they could get up to six years in prison. For details of that report, click here.

I'm hoping that on the day Vick's team is scheduled to hit the field for training camp(July 25th or 26th), they will do it without Vick because, on that day, he will be appearing in federal court for a bond hearing.

The bond hearing is late in the afternoon. I wonder what his team managers and teammates will do that morning? Will they let him on the field for training? Wouldn't that be like showing your support for someone? I think they should not allow him on the field that day. 

Innocent til proven guilty? After having read the 18 page indictment, I think it's going to be difficult for him to prove his innocence .

 

Tags: cruelty to animals, Michael Vick, dog fighting

Rockin' Man Blogger recognition

                                                              

If I had known there was Rockin' Man Blogger award, at the time I was given the Rockin' Girl Blogger award, I would have certainly included the following guy bloggers, who are among my favorites. I just happened to find the above icon just moments ago at Krissy's journal, Sometimes I Think. I had to come back and recognize these guy bloggers because I read them as often as they write.

Patrick, Caregivingly Yours. I know I've mentioned him before in my journal, but it's because I truly enjoy what he has to say, and the way he says it. He endears me with his family pictures, from the past to the present, the video clips and the YouTube clips he's made and added to his journal entries (with music he carefully picks for each one). The ongoing story of how he meets the challenge of being called into caregiving at such a young age... no one expects such things to happen when their family is so young... can inspire even the most defeated in mind and heart. Patrick is a Rockin'Man Blogger! 

Greg, Call of the Waterfalls. This Rockin' blogger carries a loaded camera with him at all times... I'm sure of it. And if he hasn't been to every waterfall in the state of North Carolina, he will boast of it someday soon. I love his entries about each waterfall he visits, from the peaceful photographs in every entry featuring a single waterfall, to the guiding text which not only includes detailed directions on how to find the featured waterfall, but interesting facts about it as well. In his other journal, Photo Trek, he gives practical tips to help those of us who want to be better photographers. If you have any questions related to anything he writes about, Greg is just an emailed question away. Yes, Greg is a Rockin'Man Blogger.

Barry, Vengeance. Barry's entries are usually short, sometimes sharp, sometimes ponderous, often rascally, and they vary from accounts of family history, to his own travels around the world, and to his current family. The man is young at heart, but I won't tell you his age. You figure it out while reading about some of the things he has done and places he has been. He loves to write, and what intrigues me, among other things, are his playfulness with and voraciousness for words. Just yesterday I was thanking him for helping me increase my vocabulary, which pales by comparison. Oh, and he makes me laugh... I wish I could hear his voice. I hope I haven't embarrassed him by selecting Barry, Bbartle3, as a Rockin' Man Blogger.  <grin>

In the spirit of connecting bloggers to other bloggers, I have given you my choices! I invite you to visit them very soon.

If you Rockin' Men Bloggers want to continue with your own personal recognitions, then copy and paste the icon, and write your own entry. You can nominate five man bloggers. Or I suppose you could use the pink Rockin' Girl Blogger icon in my previous entry to nominate the lady bloggers. Or not.

Have a good evening all!

Tags: Rockin' Male Bloggers, Caregivingly Yours, Call of the Waterfalls, Vengeance

Rockin' Girl Bloggers

                                                    

                               So someone thinks I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

Marti at Porch Stories does, at least. It might be because we are both teachers. I'm late in responding to that entry, but I think I'm suppose to nominate five other girl bloggers... sorry guys. I think there ought to be a Rockin' Guy Blogger recognition, too.

I don't have the official guidelines, but I glanced at a few other nominees to see how they responded, so I have an idea. Here goes:

There's Indigo, Marie, Caroline, Sheria, and Sher.

Indigo is wearing her life out here in the open. Actually, there are many journalers doing this at aol journals. Indigo is dealing with physical and emotional issues/trauma, but no matter how far down or how deep the pit she finds herself in on any given day, that woman pulls herself back up and starts over. She needs our prayers and good thoughts. Indigo (Raven's Lament) is a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

I selected Marie for her words of helpful encouragement and guiding examples of daily living, from the past and in the present. She lives in Great Britain, and has started a new life in recent years. Marie (Marie's Muses) is a Rockin' Girl Blogger, too!

Caroline was my friend here in my state and county long before I started blogging. We taught together for a few years in the same building. Now that we no longer teach in the same school, I keep up with her life through her blog. She is from South Africa, in case you haven't read her blog, and she has a lovely spirit of boldness that I admire. Her faith in God is apparent in nearly every entry. Caroline (A New Adventure) is a Rockin' Girl Blogger as well.

Many of you already know that Caroline and I met Sheria in person back in February... it was the first time either of us met another aol journaler. It was so much fun, we are going to do it again this summer. Sheria was a teacher before she became a lawyer, and she is politically savvy. I am ashamed to admit my own ignorance before her. But, she probably already has me figured out... through her kindness and skill with words, she makes me feel intelligent. Sheria's journal is often humorous with her family stories, or serious when she brings up issues that she is passionate about. Sheria (On My Mind) is a Rockin' Girl Blogger, no doubt!

Now, any mother who adopts three teen-agers (in addition to the two she already has at home) and blogs about her family, all with a positive and happy outlook has got to be a Rockin' Mama. So I want y'all to check Sher out and keep up with what's going on. She has got some story to tell. She's also a teacher. Yes, Sher (WunzUponATime) is some kind of on fire Rockin' Girl Blogger!

There's my list of five, although there are many others out there who rock. I think the ones I picked, if they haven't already been picked, are supposed to write an entry. In this way some folks will meet new people they haven't read before.

Just copy the Rockin' Girl Blogger icon into your entry if you want. Happy bloggin', ladies.

 

 

Tags: Rockin' Girl Bloggers

Black and white diamonds: Monday photo shoot

Monday Photo Shoot: Picture something that shows off something geometrical. Squares, cubes, vectors, right angles, tangents and so on; basically, any picture that shows geometrical forms and shapes in an interesting and obvious way.

                                                            

Most of you know that I went to the coast a few weeks ago, and visited Cape Lookout, one of the barrier islands off of North Carolina. I had inserted pictures of me and Steve standing in front of the lighthouse in a previous entry. I didn't want to repeat the same photo, so here's a slightly different one.

In this version, you see a crew of NC Coast Guard going up into the lighthouse, but I couldn't find out the nature of their business. I'm sure they didn't change any lightbulbs up there.

(<grin> couldn't resist that one!)

But in keeping with the theme for this week's photo shoot, I included the lighthouse for its obvious diamond-shaped geometric pattern.

I want to carry this one step further, and pass on some very interesting information about this pattern. If I may paraphrase from the brochure I have in my hand this very minute:

On a lighthouse, the pattern painted on it is called a "daymark." Daymarks help people at sea to distinguish one lighthouse from another during the day. (You knew that part, didn't you?) Today we call the pattern on the Cape Lookout lighthouse the diamond pattern, but when it was first painted in 1873, it was officially a "diagonal checker" pattern.

Here's the really interesting part about the purpose of this pattern... It isn't just to set it apart from other lighthouses off the NC coast. The black diamond shapes are aligned with North/South, and the white diamond shapes are aligned with East/West. So depending from which direction you approach it, you will see a different pattern (black on white, or white on black).

                                 

And now I quote directly: "Cape Lookout is the only lighthouse to change like this, all others remain the same regardless of viewing directions."

I didn't know this information while I was there. If I had, I would have walked around to the other side of the lighthouse to get the picture of white diamonds. This is the closest thing I have to giving you an idea of that change in pattern from black to white. You can imagine the rest!

(From: Cape Lookout Lighthouse, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior and Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina.)

See, I told you it would be interesting.

If you have an interesting geometric photo to show off, click on the link to Scalzi's photo shoot assignment so you can leave your entry with him. Oh, and don't forget to leave your link here as well.

I love geometry!

Tags: Cape Lookout, Monday Photo Shoot, geometry, blogplugs